Syria in Past 24 Hours:

Army Imposes Heavy Defeat on Terrorists in Homs

Rasa - The Syrian Army men ambushed a group of terrorists and preempted their offensive in Northern Homs on Thursday, killing and wounding a number of them and destroying their equipment.

News ID: 435886

Date: 19 January 2018 - 18:27

RNA - The Syrian Army men ambushed a group of terrorists and preempted their offensive in Northern Homs on Thursday, killing and wounding a number of them and destroying their equipment.

Homs

The army men carried out an ambush operation against a group of terrorists that intended to prevail over the army positions near Maktab al-Emad near the town of al-Rastan in Homs, killing and wounding a number of terrorists.

In the meantime, the army's artillery and missile units targeted terrorists' strongholds in response to the militants' attack in the Northern Farms of al-Rastan.

The missile units further hit terrorists' movements hard between the villages of Kafr Laha and al-Tayebeh Qarbi in Northern Homs, killing a number of terrorists.

Aleppo

The Turkish Army Continued to dispatch more military columns to the borders with Syria, field sources reported on Thursday, adding that the army and Ankara-backed militants are on the verge of laying siege on the Kurds.

The sources said that a new convoy, including 15 personnel carrier vehicles with fresh soldiers on board, was dispatched to Kilis opposite the Syrian province of Aleppo under intense security measures.

Also, several armored personnel carriers, armored vehicles, a number of elite forces and several fuel tankers were sent by the army to the Hatai province at the border with Syria.

The army had previously forwarded over 20 tanks to the border region in Hatai province in Southwestern Turkey.

Also in the past 24 hours, Ankara-backed militant groups intensified attacks on the Kurdish forces' positions in Northern Aleppo amid reports on the Turkish army's imminent operation in Afrin and Manbij regions, a Kurdish media outlet reported.

The Kurdish-language Hawar news reported that the Turkish forces deployed in Sejiyeh border checkpoint targeted Kurdish forces' positions near the village of Marwaniyeh in Shi'eh area in Jajdariseh region in the town of Afrin.

In the meantime, the mortar and missile units of the Turkish army and its affiliated militant groups deployed in Qala Sam'an pounded the village of Karzileh in Shirwa region, the villages of Shadireh and Iska, nearby regions of the village of Jomleh in Shirwa, Hawar news further said.

On the other hand, forces of the Euphrates Shield targeted Kurdish forces' positions near the village of al-Mohsenli Northwest of Manbij, fueling fierce clashes between two sides.

Also on Thursday, tens of fighters of the Al-Nusra Front (Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at or the Levant Liberation Board) joined the ISIL terrorist group amid the Syrian Army advances in Southern Aleppo, dissident-affiliated websites reported.

The news websites reported that a sum of 60 terrorists of Al-Nusra have joined ISIL after the Al-Nusra suffered heavy defeats in recent clashes with the army men in Southern Aleppo.

The websites further said that most of the defected members were Al-Nusra fighters in Badiyeh (desert) or former members of Jund al-Aqsa that came under siege of the army men in Southern Aleppo.

In the meantime, a large number of Al-Nusra terrorists have escaped from their positions in Southern Aleppo and joined their comrades near the Abu al-Dhohour airbase in Southeastern Idlib.

Also in the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that representatives of militants in a region in Aleppo endorsed peace agreement with the Syrian Army troops.

The ministry reported that militants in the village of Taljabin in Aleppo province laid down arms and joined the nationwide reconciliation plan with the army, adding that the total number of towns, regions and villages that have thus far ended battle against the army stands at 2,330.

Idlib

The Syrian Army troops continued to attack the positions of Al-Nusra Front in Southern Aleppo and managed to capture several regions North of Abu al-Dhohour airbase in Southeastern Idlib.

The army men stormed Al-Nusra's strongholds in Tal (hill) al-Zaman in Southern Aleppo and seized back the villages of al-Hayana and al—Halaywa.

The army men further beat back the Al-Nusra from the village of Batiha North of the village of Tal Maseh.

A field source pointed to 5 km advance of the army in Tal al-Zaman and Hadher towards Abu al-Dhohour airbase and said that the airbase will go under the army's siege from the Southern, Eastern and Northern directions.

Also in the past 24 hours, Abu Naser Qudsiya, the notorious field commander of Al-Nusra Front, was killed in clashes with the Syrian Army in the Northwestern province of Idlib, fields sources confirmed.

The sources said that the army exchanged heavy fire with Al-Nusra in Northern Hama and Southeastern Idlib.

Also, the Syrian Air Force carried out a number of combat sorties over the positions and movements of terrorists in the towns and villages of Morek, Kafr Zita, Skeik, Abedin, Ma'arat al-Nu'aman, destroying the entire positions of the terrorists and inflicting heavy casualties on them, the sources said.

They further added that Al-Nusra's senior Field Commander Abu Naser Qudsiya was killed in the army operation in the region.

Also, army sources said on Thursday that government troops have purged over 1,000 sq-km of land in Southeastern Idlib after beating terrorists back from 90 regions.

The sources said that the army men have liberated 90 villages and towns in Southeastern Idlib in their anti-terrorism operation in recent weeks, killing a large number of terrorists, including several high-ranking commanders.

The sources further said that the army has cleaned over 1,000 sq-km of land in Sinjar, al-Tamanna and Abu al-Dhohour regions of terrorists, adding that the army's control over 1,000 sq-km of territories will help it launch fresh operations in Ma'arat al-Nu'aman region and the town of Saraqib that is the second defense line of the terrorists towards Idlib city.

The sources added that the army inflicted major losses on the terrorists and seized over 50 armored vehicles, several tanks and a large volume of arms and ammunitions in the operation in Southeastern Idlib.

847/940